Michael Jordan is a Basketball Role Model

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Michael Jordan is a Basketball Role Model

When someone says the name Michael Jordan, the first thing that comes to mind is basketball, The Chicago Bulls and Nike shoes. Through the years, Michael Jordan has proved time and time again that he is the greatest basketball player ever, and by performing in this rapidly expanding sporting field, he has gained tremendous popularity throughout the world. People of all ages and from all nationalities have gathered to watch him play. A journalist states 'even your Aunt Matilda might not know nothing about basketball, liked watching him play' (Jonathon 1999:58). Jordan has become more than just an entertainer. He is a hero and a role model amongst basketball spectators. Johnson claims that 'he is the most famous American in the world' (ibid.). Perhaps he was born to be the best.

Even though he is a star, Michael's childhood had been very distressing. In fact, Michael Jordan was nearly miscarried by his mother. His nose bled from birth till he was five, he nearly suffocated when he fell behind the bed as a baby and nearly killed himself when an electrocution threw him three feet. In Jordan's own words, he exclaims

I mean my girlfriend got swept in a flood and drowned when we were in college. Another time, I was swimming with a friend when both of us got pulled into the ocean by a strong undertow. I was able to get free and make it back to land. He never made it back (Jordan 1998:96).

Additionally, after going through so many traumatic and distressing times, not many people would have been able to live their dreams. But Jordan performed the task of living his dream exceptionally well.

Despite a somewhat desperate childhood, Michael Jordan enjoyed his time at school. He did his first years of schooling at D.C. Virgo Junior High School and later graduated to Lanley High School where he began practicing intensively on his basketball skills. He was accepted in the University of North Carolina through a basketball scholarship. At the university, Michael took on the challenge of driving his teammates to a level of performance that they might never have achieved on their own. He scored the winning basket in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship game in 1982. A sportswriter describes 'the relentlessness with which Michael Jordan prodded and cajoled the other players in leading them to championship season after championship season' (Lazenby 1996:37).

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